145;I love playing Ravana146;

It's the voice. You feel as though he8217;s performing right in front of your eyes. Actor Akhilendra Mishra doesn8217;t take a minute to credit it all to his continuing innings with Indian Theatre.

Twelve years since he played Kroor Singh on Chandrakanta, actor Akhilendra Mishra is living his dream on television

It8217;s the voice. You feel as though he8217;s performing right in front of your eyes. Actor Akhilendra Mishra doesn8217;t take a minute to credit it all to his continuing innings with Indian Theatre. 8220;At times such as now, I like to quote a quotation I8217;ve made of my own,8221; the actor says across telephone lines. We listen in eagerly. 8220;An actor earns from theatre and spends it on himself,8221; he says in crisp baritone. And we couldn8217;t agree more. For Mishra, who first debuted on television as the caterpillar-eyebrowed Kroor Singh on Nirja Guleri8217;s Chandrakanta as many as 12 years back, theatre has been his backbone.

8220;As much as I would have loved to do television, there was nothing that truly excited me. At the same time, today8217;s television requires a lot of an actor8217;s time,8221; says Mishra who couldn8217;t quite say no when approached by NDTV Imagine for their adaptation of Ramayana. 8220;I have always wanted to play Ravana. Today, when programming on television is all about illegitimate relationships, it was a delight to be approached for a mythological show,8221; admits the actor who prefers to communicate in unpolluted Hindi, which by the way is a delight to hear. And Mishra wasn8217;t unaware of Ravana8217;s true character. 8220;Most people just know one aspect of his life. There8217;s much more,8221; he says adding, 8220;I have always been impressed by him having read not just the Ramayana but Ravana Sanhita, which gives the true picture of the man who knew much before of his own death.8221;

Having read all that he could lay his hands on, Akhilendra decided to give the character his best shot. 8220;I am leading a satvik jeevan even while I shoot for the show,8221; you hear him say. And all that hard work has paid off. 8220;What8217;s nice to see is that parents are getting their children to watch the show. There are many in this generation who haven8217;t even heard the Ramayana, let alone read it,8221; rues the actor who is happy to seethe resurgence of mythology on television. With Dussehra not too far away, how is the show gearing up. 8220;As of now the fight between Lord Ram and Ravana has begun,8221; says the onscreen Ravana. As for the actor Akhilendra Mishra, there are three films to look forward to. 8220;First you8217;ll get to see me play a small role in Goldie Behl8217;s 8216;Drona8217;. Then I am shooting for Rakeysh Mehra8217;s next,8221; he lists them for us before mentioning, 8220;I am associated with the IPTA group of theatre and I make it a point to do at least one or two plays a year. That8217;s where I get my energy from.8221;

While he8217;s living his dream playing Ravana there8217;s another character, not from Indian mythology but history that the actor would like to portray in any form of media. 8220;And that8217;s Maharana Pratap. That8217;s a role I would love to essay,8221; Mishra lets us know. Now that8217;s a cue for producers!